Wednesday, January 22, 2014

America Has Gone To War 240 Times In 237 Years

During the period from 1798 to 2012
Washington used military force abroad 240 times, more frequently than
annually.

The results of this military – aggressive development are impressive.
Five percent of the world’s population who are lucky enough to be U.S.
citizens consume, according to various estimates, from 25 to 30 percent
of the planet’s resources.

It all started a long time ago, in 1620, when “Mayflower” ship with 142 settlers on board left the British
port of Plymouth, crossed the Atlantic Ocean, and on November 11
dropped the first batch of “pilgrims” on the North American coast. Their
descendants in the United States today have become a semblance of royal
aristocracy in Europe.

Before completing the formation of the government and public
institutions, the U.S. began unleashing wars and conflicts, one after
another.

Here are the most important ones. 1798-1800 – the war with
France, the former ally of the United States in the fight for
independence. As a result, some North American colonies of France went
under the control of the United States, which was the prelude to their
accession later.

The next full-scale war, the first Tripoli or Barbary war, the one
that the United States fought in the Mediterranean with Algeria,
Tunisia and Tripolitania (modern Libya)
ten thousand miles away from its borders, predetermined the wars of the
20-21stcentury in the same region. This war can safely be called the
first war of the policy of “big stick” under which Washington,
disregarding the rules of the international law, advanced or protected
its economic interests. The reason for the war was the demand of Arab
States that a tribute be paid to Tripoli for the use of the trade routes
in the Mediterranean.

Throughout the nineteenth century, the United States fought with the British,
Mexican, Japanese, Nicaragua, Hawaii, and the Philippines, not to
mention dozens of local military operations. As a result, the
territories of modern states of California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada,
and Utah were conquered. Protectorate was established over Hawaii, the
U.S. military government was introduced in Cuba, and a colonial regime
established in the Philippines.
In the twentieth century, the aggressive U.S. operations have become even more widespread.

U.S. soldiers fought in China (1925), Korea (1950), again in China
(1958), and Lebanon (1958). The biggest defeat in the history of the
United States was suffered in Vietnam, where 60,000 people were killed
and over 300,000 wounded. After the war, about 100,000 of its veterans
committed suicide. In parallel, Americans conducted armed operations in
Latin America –
Panama, Brazil (overthrow of the legally elected President Joao Goulart
in 1964) , Cuba, Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, and Chile. Africa was
not forgotten either, and in 1960, the U.S. organized a coup during
which dictator Mobutu came to power, and the legally elected Prime
Minister Patrice Lumumba was killed.

Recent achievements of the U.S. foreign policy are fresh in memory –
from the bombing of sovereign Yugoslavia to the completely illegal
invasion of Iraq, the war in Afghanistan and the defeat of Libya.

The formula for economic
prosperity and model democracy is simple: attack and rob.